Jaime Lannister has evolved significantly over the years, culminating in the scene in “The Dragon and the Wolf” when he abandoned the cynicism that has shaped him and left King’s Landing — and Cersei — to head north. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau sat down with HBO’s Making Game of Thrones blog to discuss how the events of Season 7 affected his character, and why Jaime finally walked away from his sister.
“They accomplish a lot of great things from a military standpoint,” Coster-Waldau said of the Lannisters’ performance early in the season. “Obviously Jaime’s not happy with all of Cersei’s decisions — he doesn’t trust Euron Greyjoy — but it does make sense. His decision to let go of Casterly Rock and set up Daenerys’ army was brilliant.
"Of course, the truth is that with the dragons — as well as with the army of the dead — believing is one thing, seeing is another. When Jaime’s army is attacked by the Dothraki and Daenerys, it changes everything. He realizes there is no way that they can fight this woman. She’s just too powerful. The weapons are just too deadly. So you have a plan, and then you have to change it. Now it’s at a moment where they’re running out of options."
That’s why Jaime charged Daenerys in “The Spoils of War”: because he sees a chance to end this conflict for good. “It’s spur of the moment,” Coster-Waldau explained. “He sees an opening. He’s not an idiot; but even if there’s just a glimmer of possibility that this could work out, he has to take it. It would save the Lannisters. It would save his sister. He doesn’t have time to think. He takes the opportunity and he fails.”
Macall B. Polay – HBO
Turning to Cersei’s pregnancy, Coster-Waldau did not offer an opinion as to its authenticity, but he described how Jaime was affected by the news, as well as Cersei’s decision to acknowledge him as the father. “ a complete surprise,” he said. “I think he’s shocked, and there’s a moment where he looks at her like, ‘What the… are you kidding me?’ I think for the first time in many seasons, Cersei seems happy. There’s a glow about her and just for the briefest of moments, he allows himself to go with it. Of course, she breaks the moment by saying something really sinister.”
"There [is]no question, this is what he wanted his whole life — that he could be who he was, and be open about it. Obviously the whole sister-brother thing is so messed up, but it’s still his reality. He’s in love with this woman, and it’s been so wrong, secret and dangerous. So the idea that, ‘Maybe I could be her man openly, and we could have a child and I could be the father without having to pretend that I was just the sweet uncle, goes straight to his heart.’ He can’t help himself but think, ‘This would be amazing.'”"
On Jaime’s evolution over the years, Coster-Waldau mused:
"In many ways, he is a different man than he was before he lost his hand. I think before he would just use brute force, just knowing, ‘Hey, I’m stronger than you, so even if you don’t like this, I’m just going to do it and you’re going to have to deal with the consequences.’ He can’t do that anymore, but I think it’s made him a better commander. He has been forced to understand and use empathy. We saw last season at Riverrun when he managed to avoid a violent conflict just by talking to Edmure Tully. Jaime used his own understanding that as a father there’s nothing more terrifying than the idea of your children being killed or hurt. The pain he experienced with Myrcella was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even though it was a very brutal thing to do to Edmure, it was worth it, it actually saved the lives of thousands of people."
In the past, Jaime shared Cersei’s attitude about loyalty to family, but Brienne’s admonition to him in the dragonpit to “f**k loyalty” made him question his value system. “It’s always been ‘family first,’ so the idea this goes beyond that is like a foreign language. But it does get to him. It’s one of those things where someone says something to you and it’s been in the back of your mind all the time.”
The jolt of truth from Brienne (through whom his dormant noble instincts came to the fore in aeason 3), along with the realization that the threat posed by the army of the dead is real, caused Jaime to condemn Cersei’s deception.
"That was it. That was the moment. She’s so cynical on a level that he doesn’t understand. You don’t give your word in front of the whole world and then just f**k ‘em. That’s too far. The fact is, yes there’s always been a lot of deceit, but Jaime is actually pretty straightforward when it comes to ‘walking the walk’ and all that. He’s thinking, ‘You commit to something, and you’ve just seen this thing is real, what the hell…?’ She takes it to a place that he can’t follow her to."
Coster-Waldau explained that while Jaime was dismayed by Cersei’s treachery, he needed a final push to turn away from her. That push came when Jaime realized that” seems more or less willing to kill him, and he finally realizes that whatever he feels for her, it doesn’t go both ways. That whole thing of ‘We’re in this together,’ well, we’re not quite in this together — because you’re not. We’re not playing the same game.”
So how did Coster-Waldau feel about that scene? “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, I think that he’s seen her do crazy things before, but this is lying to everyone, and lying to him. You’ve got to go, ‘How much can this guy take before it becomes too much?’ It was a great scene to shoot.”
And a great one to watch!
Coster-Waldau continued his explanations while talking with Esquire, where he ruminated on why Cersei didn’t order the Mountain to kill Jaime when she had the chance:
"She still has feelings, and I think there’s also a bit of her not believing what she’s seeing. She’s stunned at what’s going on. Like she said: “No one walks away from me.” And clearly their whole lives Jaime’s been about her, what’s right for her, how can I stay close to her. There’s a moment of disbelief that he’s actually walking away from her. It could also just be that her little pet weapon didn’t get the subtlety of the hand signal. He’s really thick. That’s the problem when you bring someone back from the dead: They’re very dumb. You have to be really specific with your orders."
As for where exactly Jaime is going, Coster-Waldau says he “has to get to some sort of commander—whether it be Jon Snow or someone else in charge,” so he can explain himself. Otherwise, Jaime could be killed by someone who thinks he’s an enemy, hence why he covered his gold hand.
Or he could get killed and brought back as a wight. “That would suck,” he said. “You know some of the main characters are going to get turned. There are going to be some blue-eyed main characters running around. And, god, I hope it’s not me. That’s three hours of make-up in the morning.”
Next: HBO programming president Casey Bloys discusses filming Game of Thrones season 8
What lies in store for Jaime now that he’s extricated himself from Cersei’s clutches? And will he be the one to fulfill the Valonqar prophecy now that he no longer has access to Cersei? Coster-Waldau, who points out that filming for season 8 starts in October and is likely “to take about 4,000 years to shoot,” will have to wait to find out, just like the rest of us.
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